"Let’s go." Chester signaled to the others with a glance. Without a word, the group headed back downstairs.

His face was grim, lips pressed into a hard line. His pace was much faster than before, almost charged with restrained anger.

He had underestimated that woman.

Behind him, the others exchanged uneasy looks, but no one dared speak.

Twentieth floor. The apartment door was left slightly ajar.

When Chester pushed it open and stepped inside, Parker was already seated on the sofa with a cigarette between his fingers.

Vanessa sat nearby. The moment she saw him return, her eyes flickered.

Parker looked up at Chester. Judging by his expression alone, he already had a rough idea of what had happened.

"Where are they?"

Chester remained standing by the entrance instead of walking further in.

"They’re dead," he said hoarsely. "Both of them."

Vanessa did not react at first. She thought he meant Wendy. But Wendy had only been alone.

Parker, however, immediately understood what Chester was implying. He crushed the cigarette in his fingers and frowned.

"What happened?"

Chester recounted everything he had observed and pieced together. "I smelled blood. We can’t contact them anymore. Wendy probably killed them. We underestimated her."

His fists clenched tightly at his sides. Those two men had been his people. He could not believe two grown men had been taken out by a single woman. It was absurd.

He knew exactly how capable they were. So what went wrong? Had they been bribed or turned against them somehow? Impossible!

Parker had nothing to say.

Vanessa, however, could no longer stay calm. "Are you saying Wendy killed both of them?!"

Chester glanced at her and nodded. A chill swept through the woman’s chest.

Who exactly was Wendy? Was she really that strong?

Deep down, Parker refused to accept it, but reality was merciless. Wendy clearly had abilities. Otherwise, how could she have slaughtered her entire family, along with the Jiang couple? Dealing with her was obviously not going to be easy.

Vanessa bit down hard on her teeth. The more capable Wendy proved herself to be, the more determined she became to destroy her.

A blood debt had to be repaid.

She forced her emotions back under control and turned toward Parker.

Chester also remained silent, watching Parker as he sank into thought. After a long while, he finally spoke.

"We can’t let her go."

He refused to believe a little girl like Wendy could kill two of his men unless she was hiding some kind of secret. And now he wanted to uncover exactly what that secret was.

More importantly, he intended to avenge his brothers. He could not allow them to die for nothing.

Wendy was only one woman. If they backed down now, they would become a complete joke.

Chester frowned. He wanted to advise caution, but swallowed the words because he and Parker were thinking the same thing.

That woman definitely had secrets. They could not let this opportunity slip away. He refused to believe they could not deal with a single woman.

"Parker, what do we do next?" Chester asked.

"For now, don’t alert her." The man narrowed his eyes. "She has to leave eventually. We’ll make our move the next time she goes out."

The fact that two of their men had died inside Wendy’s apartment already proved something was wrong there.

She might have traps or hidden tricks inside. Charging in recklessly would not benefit them. The best option was to wait until Wendy left the building and ambush her outside.

Last time had only succeeded because of sheer coincidence. Parker refused to believe Wendy could keep getting that lucky.

Chester nodded after hearing his plan. "Got it."

Vanessa listened quietly from the side, finally letting out a breath of relief. It was a good thing Parker had no intention of letting Wendy go. That meant she would not have to dirty her own hands personally.

She refused to believe so many of them together could not deal with a single Wendy.

***

The apartment was pitch black. Wendy sat alone on the sofa without turning on the lights.

She had been sitting there for a very long time, so long that her legs had begun to go numb, yet she still had not moved.

Her mind was a tangled mess, filled with flashes of what had happened earlier.

The two men blocking the doorway.

Those twisted smiles.

The sensation of the knife sinking into flesh.

The warmth of blood splashing onto her hands. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Slowly, Wendy lowered her head and stared at her fingers. She had already washed them clean. There was not a trace of blood left. Yet she could still smell that metallic scent lingering around her.

She stood up and walked toward the window, pulling the curtain aside just enough to peek outside.

The world below was swallowed in darkness, nothing could be seen.

Wendy stared blankly into the void, only one question circling endlessly through her mind.

Who wanted to capture her? She had not made enemies with anyone in Starlight Towers. Could someone have targeted her because of the speedboat?

...That was not impossible.

But then how did they know which floor she lived on? How did they know her name?

The more Wendy thought about it, the stranger it felt.

If they had been hiding somewhere else in the building, they could not have reached her door that quickly.

The men had shown up only moments after she entered her apartment, which meant they had been nearby the entire time.

They knew exactly where she lived. And more importantly, she had not been living here long.

Other than Liam and Suzy, almost nobody in the building even knew her surname.

Liam would never do something like this. He might be cold and distant, but he would not harm her. Besides, she had saved him before. He was supposed to become her man in the future. No matter how she thought about it, Liam would never set her up.

That left only one possibility––Suzy.

A dangerous flicker passed through Wendy’s eyes.

Yes. It had to be Suzy.

She thought back to why she went out today in the first place. She had been tailing Suzy. Nothing dangerous happened during the pursuit, yet the moment she returned home, she was attacked.

That was too much of a coincidence.

Wendy remembered Suzy’s attitude earlier. She clearly did not want to be followed.

Was that why she teamed up with other people to target her? It was absolutely possible. The current Suzy was no longer the same person she used to be. Wendy could not pinpoint exactly when she changed, but she definitely had.

And Wendy could feel it... Suzy hated her. So framing her like this was hardly surprising.

The realization flooded Wendy with uncontrollable rage.

Suzy... That bitch! Did she really hate her that much?!

Wendy remembered the way those two men looked at her. Their eyes had been filthy with lust. If she had failed to fight back, they would have violated her without hesitation.

So this was how badly Suzy wanted to destroy her?

That vicious rat!

Wendy had not even made a move against her yet!!

Her entire body trembled with fury. She would never let Suzy off.

She needed to come up with a plan. She had to get revenge. And Leonard and Thomas...they had to belong to her too.

***

"Achoo!"

Far away in another building, Suzy suddenly sneezed.

She rubbed her nose, inexplicably feeling a chill crawl across her back, as though someone somewhere was obsessing over her.

Lifting her head, she looked toward the dark night outside the window. Everything beyond the glass was pitch black, only the wind slipped through the cracks, cold and restless.

"What’s wrong?" Leonard poked his head out from the neighboring room. "Catching a cold?"

Suzy shook her head. "No. My nose just suddenly got itchy."

Still unconvinced, Leonard walked over quickly and pressed a hand against her forehead before comparing it to his own.

"You seem fine. No fever."

"Uncle, I’m really okay." Suzy dodged his hand helplessly. "It was just one sneeze. Don’t overreact."

The moment she finished speaking, she suddenly felt warmth settle over her shoulders.

Thomas had walked over at some point and draped his jacket around her.

Suzy looked up straight into his dark eyes.

"The wind’s strong tonight," Thomas said gently. "Wear something warmer."

Warmth spread through Suzy’s chest.

"I’m really fine," she murmured softly.

Thomas did not respond. He simply looked at her quietly, his gaze calm and tender.

Just as Suzy’s face began heating beneath his stare, Thomas suddenly spoke.

"About that college friend of yours..."